Satellite fleet deployment

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices are described for managing satellite communications through the deployment of a fleet of multi-beam satellites serving overlapping and non-overlapping spot beams. In these methods, systems, and devices, a first communication service associated with a relatively wider spot beam of a first satellite is provided to a first coverage area having multiple terminals. A second communication service associated with a relatively narrower spot beam (e.g., high-gain spot beam) of a second satellite is provided to a second coverage area located within the first coverage area. A subset of terminals located within the second coverage area is identified, and the terminals of the identified subset are transitioned from the first communication service of the wide spot beam of the first satellite to the second communication service of the high-gain spot beam of the second satellite.

CROSS REFERENCES

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/226,633, filed on Mar. 26, 2014, entitled “Satellite FleetDeployment”, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/830,140, filed on Mar. 14, 2013, entitled “Satellite FleetDeployment” which claims priority benefit of U.S. provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 61/749,545, filed on Jan. 7, 2013, and entitled“Satellite Fleet Deployment,” the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to wireless communications in general,and in particular, to broadband satellite communications networks.

As demand for broadband communications continues to grow around theworld, broadband satellite communication networks have been deployed andcontinue to be developed to address that demand.

SUMMARY

Embodiments are directed to a system including a fleet of multi-beamsatellites, each satellite being configured to provide at least onecommunication service over at least one fixed-location spot beam; and afleet management device communicatively coupled to the satellites. Thefleet of satellites may include an initially deployed first multi-beamsatellite providing a first communication service to a plurality offirst satellite beam coverage regions via a plurality of fixed locationbeams and a later deployed second multi-beam satellite providing asecond communication service to a plurality of second satellite beamcoverage regions via a plurality of fixed location beams. The pluralityof second satellite beam coverage regions may include a first elevateddemand region located at least partially within a first one of theplurality of first satellite beam coverage regions and a second elevateddemand region located at least partially within a second one of theplurality of first satellite beam coverage regions, where the elevateddemand regions are associated with elevated levels of communicationservice demand. The fleet management device may be configured totransition a first plurality of terminals from the first communicationservice to the second communication service, the first plurality ofterminals located in the first elevated demand region and initiallyassociated with a first fixed location beam of the first satellite, suchthat the first plurality of terminals are then associated with a firstfixed location beam of the second satellite, and transition a secondplurality of terminals from the first communication service to thesecond communication service, the second plurality of terminals locatedin the second elevated demand region and initially associated with asecond fixed location beam of the first satellite, such that the secondplurality of terminals are then associated with a second fixed locationbeam of the second satellite.

In some embodiments, the first one of the plurality of first satellitebeam coverage regions and the second one of the plurality of firstsatellite beam coverage regions overlap or are the same region. In someembodiments, a first portion of a system bandwidth is allocated to thefirst fixed location beam of the first satellite a bandwidth allocatedto the first fixed location beam of the second satellite includes atleast the first portion of the system bandwidth. The plurality of fixedlocation beams of the second satellite may include a third fixedlocation beam that services a satellite beam coverage region thatoverlaps at least partially with the first elevated demand region, wherea bandwidth allocated to the third fixed location beam includes at leastthe first portion of the system bandwidth of an orthogonal polarizationrelative to the first fixed location beam of the second satellite. Theplurality of fixed location beams of the second satellite may include afourth fixed location beam servicing a satellite beam coverage regionthat overlaps at least partially with the first elevated demand regionand the satellite beam coverage region associated with the third fixedlocation beam, where a bandwidth allocated to the fourth fixed locationbeam includes at least the first portion of the system bandwidth of asame polarization as the third fixed location beam, and where the thirdfixed location beam and the fourth fixed location beam are allocatedorthogonal time resources. In embodiments, substantially all of theplurality of second satellite coverage regions of the second satelliteoverlap with one or fewer other coverage regions of the plurality ofsecond satellite coverage regions.

In some embodiments, the transition of at least one terminal of thefirst plurality of terminals to the second communication serviceassociated with the second beam of the second satellite is performed inresponse to a customer request for the second communication service.Additionally or alternatively, the transition of at least one terminalof the first plurality of terminals to the second communication serviceassociated with the second beam of the second satellite may be performedat the direction of a satellite system operator.

In some embodiments, the fleet management device is configured tocompare a signal strength of the first fixed location beam of the firstsatellite to a signal strength of the first fixed location beam of thesecond satellite near a fringe area of the first fixed location beam ofthe second satellite and select one of the first satellite and thesecond satellite for communicating with a selected terminal located nearthe fringe area of the first fixed location beam of the second satellitebased on the comparison. The fleet management device may be configuredto determine an available capacity of the first satellite and anavailable capacity of the second satellite and select one of the firstsatellite and the second satellite for communicating with a terminallocated near a fringe area of the first fixed location beam of thesecond satellite based on the available capacity of the first satelliteand the available capacity of the second satellite.

Some embodiments are directed to a method of managing satellitecommunications that includes providing a first communication service toa plurality of first satellite coverage regions via a plurality of fixedlocation beams of an initially deployed first satellite and providing asecond communication service to a plurality of second satellite coverageregions via a plurality of fixed location beams of a later deployedsecond satellite. The second plurality of coverage regions may include afirst elevated demand region located at least partially within a firstone of the plurality of first satellite coverage regions, and a secondelevated demand region located at least partially within a second one ofthe plurality of first satellite coverage regions, where the elevateddemand regions are associated with elevated levels of communicationservice demand. The method may include transitioning a first pluralityof terminals from the first communication service to the secondcommunication service, the first plurality of terminals located in thefirst elevated demand region and initially associated with a first fixedlocation beam of the first satellite, such that the first plurality ofterminals are then associated with a first fixed location beam of thesecond satellite, and transitioning a second plurality of terminals fromthe first communication service to the second communication service, thesecond plurality of terminals located in the second elevated demandregion and initially associated with a second fixed location beam of thefirst satellite, such that the second plurality of terminals are thenassociated with a second fixed location beam of the second satellite.

Some embodiments are directed to a gateway system for managing satellitecommunications including a first beam service module in communicationwith an initially deployed first satellite, the first beam servicemodule configured to provide a first communication service to aplurality of first satellite coverage regions via a plurality of fixedlocation beams of the first satellite and a second beam service modulein communication with a later deployed second satellite, the second beamservice module configured to provide a second communication service to aplurality of second satellite coverage regions via a plurality of fixedlocation beams of the second satellite. The second plurality of coverageregions may include a first elevated demand region located at leastpartially within a first one of the plurality of first satellitecoverage regions, and a second elevated demand region located at leastpartially within a second one of the plurality of first satellitecoverage regions, where the elevated demand regions are associated withelevated levels of communication service demand. The gateway system mayinclude a data routing module configured to selectively route databetween a network, the first beam service module and the second beamservice module, and a service transition module configured to update thedata routing module to transition a first plurality of terminals fromthe first communication service to the second communication service, thefirst plurality of terminals located in the first elevated demand regionand initially associated with a first fixed location beam of the firstsatellite, such that the first plurality of terminals are thenassociated with a first fixed location beam of the second satellite, andtransition a second plurality of terminals from the first communicationservice to the second communication service, the second plurality ofterminals located in the second elevated demand region and initiallyassociated with a second fixed location beam of the first satellite,such that the second plurality of terminals are then associated with asecond fixed location beam of the second satellite.

Some embodiments are directed to a system for managing satellitecommunications including a data store configured to store dataassociating terminals within a plurality of first satellite coverageregions with a first communication service provided by an initiallydeployed first satellite via a plurality of fixed location beams, and anetwork configuration module configured to identify a first subset ofthe terminals located within a first elevated demand region located atleast partially within a first one of the plurality of first satellitecoverage regions and identify a second subset of the terminals locatedwithin a second elevated demand region located at least partially withina second one of the plurality of first satellite coverage regions, wherethe elevated demand regions are associated with elevated levels ofcommunication service demand. The network configuration module may beconfigured to update the data of the data store to associate a firstplurality of terminals of the first subset of the terminals with asecond communication service associated with a later deployed secondsatellite having a plurality of fixed location beams, the firstplurality of terminals served by a first fixed location beam of thesecond satellite after being associated with the second communicationservice, and associate a second plurality of terminals of the secondsubset of the terminals with the second communication service, thesecond plurality of terminals served by a second fixed location beam ofthe second satellite after being associated with the secondcommunication service. The system may include a routing configurationmodule configured to cause network data to be routed between a networkand each terminal using one of the first communication service and thesecond communication service based on the data of the data store.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of embodiments ofthe present disclosure may be realized by reference to the followingdrawings. In the appended figures, similar components or features mayhave the same reference label. Further, various components of the sametype may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash anda second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If onlythe first reference label is used in the specification, the descriptionis applicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example satellite communication systemincluding components configured according to various embodiments of theprinciples described herein.

FIG. 2A is a diagram of a system providing tiled spot beam coverage fora region using a four-color frequency re-use pattern according tovarious embodiments of the principles described herein.

FIG. 2B illustrates an example frequency re-use scheme where the systemresources are split into four colors according to two frequency rangesand orthogonal polarizations according to various embodiments of theprinciples described herein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a portion of an example satellitecommunication system according to various embodiments of the principlesdescribed herein.

FIG. 4A is a simplified diagram of provisioned satellite communicationservice for a number of terminals according to various embodiments ofthe principles described herein.

FIG. 4B is a simplified diagram illustrating an example of communicationservice re-provisioning with the addition of a high-gain spot beam toservice an elevated demand region within a wide spot beam according tovarious embodiments of the principles described herein.

FIGS. 5A-5C are block diagrams of an example satellite communicationsystem at different points in time according to various embodiments ofthe principles described herein.

FIGS. 6A-6E are diagrams of example spot beam deployments according tovarious embodiments of the principles described herein.

FIGS. 7A-7E are diagrams of example frequency re-use within spot beamdeployments according to various embodiments of the principles describedherein.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an example method for managing satellitecommunications according to various embodiments of the principlesdescribed herein.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an example gateway system according tovarious embodiments of the principles described herein.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example satellite communicationmanagement system according to various embodiments of the principlesdescribed herein.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an example satellite fleet managementsystem according to various embodiments of the principles describedherein.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of an example method for managing satellitecommunications according to various embodiments of the principlesdescribed herein.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of an example method for managing satellitecommunications according to various embodiments of the principlesdescribed herein.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of an example method for managing satellitecommunications according to various embodiments of the principlesdescribed herein.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart of an example method for managing satellitecommunications according to various embodiments of the principlesdescribed herein.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart of an example method for managing satellitecommunications according to various embodiments of the principlesdescribed herein.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart of an example method for managing satellitecommunications according to various embodiments of the principlesdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This description provides examples, and is not intended to limit thescope, applicability or configuration of embodiments of the principlesdescribed herein. Rather, the ensuing description will provide thoseskilled in the art with an enabling description for implementingembodiments of the principles described herein. Various changes may bemade in the function and arrangement of elements.

Thus, various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add variousprocedures or components as appropriate. For instance, it should beappreciated that the methods may be performed in an order different thanthat described, and that various steps may be added, omitted orcombined. Also, aspects and elements described with respect to certainembodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. It should alsobe appreciated that the following systems, methods, devices, andsoftware may individually or collectively be components of a largersystem, wherein other procedures may take precedence over or otherwisemodify their application.

The useful operational life of a broadband communication satellite maybe 10 to 15 years or more, while it may only require about 3 years todesign, build and launch a satellite. The opportunity exists, therefore,to provide a fleet of satellites that cooperatively meet thecommunication demand of a target area.

Communication satellites have evolved from covering wide areas with asingle beam to covering wide areas with a number of spot beams. A spotbeam is a satellite signal focused on a limited geographic area of theEarth. By reducing the coverage area of the beam, a more directionalantenna may be used by the satellite to transmit data to and receivedata from a region of the Earth. Because the gain of an antenna istypically proportional to its directionality, a spot beam may betransmitted at a higher gain than a legacy satellite signal with a widercoverage area at the same amount of power. This higher gain can producebetter signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio at the consumer terminal, whichallows for higher rates of data transfer between the satellite andterminals. Also, the relatively small coverage areas of spot beams allowfor frequency reuse with limited inter-beam interference, therebyproviding for even greater increases in data throughput at a satellite.

While highly directional spot beams can be very useful in areas with ahigh demand for satellite data, it may be more efficient to servelower-demand areas with one or more beams having wider coverage areasand lower total throughput. For example, some areas may not have asufficient number of subscriber terminals to justify the allocation ofspot beam resources to those areas.

FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of an example satellite communicationssystem 100 in which the principles included herein may be described. Thesatellite communications system 100 includes a network 120, such as theInternet, interfaced with a gateway system 115. The gateway system 115is configured to communicate with one or more subscriber terminals 130via a satellite 105. The satellite communications system 100 may be anysuitable type of satellite system, including a geostationary satellitesystem or low earth orbit (LEO) satellite system. The network 120 may beany suitable type of network and may connect the gateway system 115 withother gateway systems, which may also be in communication with thesatellite 105. Alternatively, a separate network linking gateways andother nodes may be employed to cooperatively service user traffic.

The gateway system 115 may be a device or system that provides aninterface between the network 120 and the satellite 105. The gatewaysystem 115 may be configured to receive data and information directed toone or more subscriber terminals 130. The gateway system 115 may beconfigured to format the data and information along with control signalsfor delivery via the satellite 105 to the respective subscriber terminal130. The gateway system may format the data and information using amodulation and coding scheme (MCS) that may be custom to the satelliteor similar to others in the industry. Multi-beam satellites may also beused with Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM) or Variable Coding andModulation (VCM). Similarly, the gateway system 115 may also beconfigured to receive signals from the satellite 105 (e.g., from one ormore subscriber terminals 130) that are directed to a destination in thenetwork 120.

The gateway system 115 may use an antenna 110 to transmit signals to andreceive signals from the satellite 105. In one embodiment, ageostationary satellite 105 is configured to receive signals from theantenna 110 and within the frequency band and specific polarizationtransmitted. In one embodiment, the satellite 105 operates in amulti-beam mode, transmitting a number (e.g., typically 20-100, etc.) ofspot beams each directed at a different region of the earth. This canallow coverage of a relatively large geographical area and frequencyre-use within the covered area. Frequency re-use in multi-beam satellitesystems permits an increase in capacity of the system for a given systembandwidth. In many embodiments, the spot beams are fixed location spotbeams, meaning that the angular beamwidth and coverage area for eachspot beam does not intentionally vary with time.

With such a multi-beam satellite, there may be a number of differentsignal switching configurations, allowing signals from a single gatewaysystem 115 to be switched between different spot beams. The signalstransmitted from the satellite 105 may be received by one or moresubscriber terminals 130 via a respective subscriber antenna 125.Similarly, signals transmitted from the subscriber terminals 130 via therespective subscriber antennas 125 may be received at the satellite 105and directed to the gateway system 115 from the satellite 105.

Each spot beam of the satellite 105 supports the terminals 130 withinits coverage area (e.g., providing uplink and downlink resources).Frequency re-use between spot beams may be provided by assigning one, ormore, ranges of frequencies (which may be referred to as channels) toeach spot beam and/or by use of orthogonal polarizations. A particularfrequency range and/or polarization may be called a “color,” andfrequency re-use in a tiled spot beam satellite system may be accordingto color. The coverage of different beams may be non-overlapping or havevarying measures of overlap. In one embodiment, spot beams of thesatellite 105 may be tiled and partially overlapping to provide completeor almost complete coverage for a relatively large geographical area(e.g., the Contiguous United States (CONUS), etc.) where partiallyoverlapping or adjacent beams use different ranges of frequencies and/orpolarizations. Each beam may contain a gateway, user terminals, or agateway and user terminals. Gateway beams and user beams may also beseparated from each other to allow frequency reuse between gateway anduser beams.

FIG. 2A is a diagram of a system 200 providing coverage for the CONUSregion with tiled spot beams and frequency re-use. In one embodiment,the system 200 utilizes a four-color frequency re-use pattern where spotbeams 205-a, 205-b, 205-c, and 205-d each use a different beam color.For example, the system 200 may use a particular system bandwidth andthe tiled spot beams 205 may each use portions of the system bandwidthand a polarization direction. FIG. 2B illustrates an example frequencyre-use scheme where the system resources (system bandwidth 250,polarization, etc.) are split into four colors according to twofrequency ranges and orthogonal polarizations. The system bandwidth 250may be contiguous or non-contiguous as illustrated by frequency blocksFR1 250-a and FR2 250-b of FIG. 2B. Two colors may overlap in bandwidthif their polarizations are orthogonal as illustrated by polarizationsPOL1 and POL2 (e.g., horizontal and vertical, left-hand circularlypolarized (LHCP) and right-hand circularly polarized (RHCP), etc.).Returning to FIG. 2A, the tiled spot beams 205 may be assigned colorssuch that two beams of the same color do not overlap. For example, beams205-a, 205-b, 205-c, and 205-d may be assigned to color 1 (FR1, POL1),color 2 (FR2, POL1), color 3 (FR1, POL2), and color 4 (FR2, POL2),respectively. While FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate one frequency re-usescheme, other frequency re-use schemes may be used.

For spot beam satellite systems, the number of spot beams may bedetermined by practical limits of payload capacity on the satelliteand/or launch vehicles, and/or on the power budget of the satellite 105.Typically, spot beam satellites may support 20-150 spot beams providingcoverage for a service area that may be several thousand miles indiameter. Each spot beam may support one or more signals of modulatedradio waves that may be detected and demodulated by terminals locatedthroughout the coverage area of the spot beam.

The system 200 illustrated in FIG. 2A may be called a contiguouscoverage spot beam system, where the coverage of the service zone by thetiled spot beams (e.g., CONUS, etc.) is contiguous or substantiallycontiguous. Typically, spot beams for contiguous coverage spot beamsystems are approximately the same size. For example, while spot beamcoverage areas of a contiguous coverage spot beam system may bedifferent sizes and/or dimensions either based on the satellite azimuthor intentionally elongated in one direction (e.g., using shaped antennasystems, beam-shaping techniques, etc.), each beam may have an angularbeamwidth that is approximately equal if normalized for beam-shaping.For simplicity, such a system may be referred to herein as a tiled spotbeam system, and beams of the tiled spot beam system may be referred toas tiled spot beams.

In embodiments, a satellite fleet system includes multiple spot-beamsatellites providing service within a service zone, where later deployedsatellites provide targeted service to areas having elevated demandusing more narrowly focused, higher gain spot beams. In one embodiment,a satellite system includes an initially deployed satellite thatprovides contiguous coverage for a portion of a service area using tiledspot beams. Later deployed satellites may provide targeted service toelevated demand regions within the service zone using more narrowlyfocused beams that overlap partially or fully with the tiled spot beamsof the initially-deployed satellite. Beams of the later deployedsatellites may be different sizes and may overlap one another eitherpartially or fully.

FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram of a system 300 of satellites 105providing different types of beams to implement a number ofcommunication services. The satellites 105 of the present figure may beexamples of the satellite 105 described above with respect to FIGS. 1and/or 2A. In the present example, an initially-deployed satellite 105-amay provide contiguous or substantially contiguous coverage withinservice zone 220 using relatively wide adjacent and/or overlapping spotbeams 205 including wide spot beam 205-e and other wide spot beams 205(not numbered). Downlink and/or uplink service to wide spot beams 205may be provided by the first satellite 105-a via one or more gateways115 within the coverage area of a feeder beam 330. Feeder beams 330 mayoverlap with service zone 220, or, as pictured in FIG. 3, may be outsideof service zone 220. Wide spot beam 205-e may have a coverage areaincluding a region of the western United States and may have a coveragearea having an approximate diameter of 200-500 miles.

While the relatively large coverage area of the wide spot beam 205-e maybe useful for a number of applications, certain compromises in datathroughput and signal reception may be associated with a larger beam.For instance, in the coverage area of the wide spot beam 205-e, eachreceiver terminal may receive the same forward link signal of the beamas the other receivers associated with the wide spot beam 205-e. Thus, asignal transmitted in the beam may not carry different data to differentregions located within the coverage area of the beam at the same time.Similarly, separate subscriber terminals transmit to the first satellite105-a using different resources (e.g., frequency, time, etc.) of thereturn link signal for wide spot beam 205-e. Accordingly, the total datathroughput of a frequency (or band of frequencies) may be limited by theinability to simultaneously reuse the frequency (or band of frequencies)used by the wide spot beam within the coverage area of overlappingand/or adjacent beams. Moreover, antenna directionality is typicallyinversely proportional to antenna gain. As such, an antenna used totransmit data in a wider beam typically has a relatively lower gain thanmore directional antennas used for narrower beams, and this lower gaincan reduce signal reception and data throughput at terminals on theearth's surface.

In certain examples, the capacity (e.g., measured in bits-per-second) ofwide spot beam 205-e may be largely utilized to serve hot spot clustersof terminals in cities or other high-density locations. The capacity ofthe wide spot beam may be a function of various parameters, includingbut not limited to: frequency bandwidth available for use by the beam;SNR or signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) at the individualterminals and gateway; modulation and coding formats (e.g., MCS, etc.);multiple access scheme; and/or other factors. These hot spot clusters ofterminals may result in localized areas of higher-than average demand.Because the total capacity for transmitting and receiving data over thewide spot beam 205-e can be shared among each of the terminalscommunicating over the wide spot beam 205-e, these localized clusters ofhigh demand may tax the amount of capacity available over the wide spotbeam 205 to other terminals within the coverage area of the wide spotbeam 205. This congestion may result in data bottlenecks for theterminals.

To increase capacity, a second multi-beam satellite 105-b may bedeployed that provides one or more spot beams to high-density locationswithin the service area 220. The second satellite 105-b may also be ageostationary satellite and may be deployed to an orbital slot providingsufficient angular separation from the first satellite 105-a to makeinter-satellite interference negligible. The second satellite 105-b mayuse fixed location spot beams and may transmit and receive to userterminals in the same geographic areas serviced by the first satellite105-a using the same or substantially overlapping spectrum resources asthe first satellite 105-a because of the angular separation between thesatellites. The second satellite may service the one or more high-gainspot beams in the service area 220 via the same gateway 115 (e.g., viaseparate antennas, etc.) via feeder beam 335. Additionally oralternatively, the second satellite 105-b may provide service via one ormore other gateways co-located with gateway 115 or in other locations.As with gateways servicing the first satellite 105-a, gateways 115 forthe second satellite 105-b may be inside or outside service zone 220.

The second satellite 105-b may employ one or more high-gain spot beams210 that service coverage areas within the coverage areas of the firstsatellite 105-a. While only two high-gain spot beams 210 are shown inFIG. 3 for the sake of clarity, the second satellite 105-b may in someexamples transmit and receive data over dozens of high-gain spot beams210 within the coverage area of satellite 105-a. One or more of thehigh-gain spot beams 210 may be directed to the hot spot clusters ofhigh demand. Satellite communications for terminals that are locatedwithin the coverage area of one of the new spot beams 210 may betransitioned from the wide spot beam 205-e to the new high-gain spotbeam 210. By transitioning terminals in the hot spot clusters of highdemand from the wide spot beam 205-e to the high-gain spot beams 210 ofthe second satellite, capacity for transmitting and receiving data overthe wide spot beam 205-e may be freed up.

This newly available capacity within the wide spot beams 205 may bededicated to the addition of new subscriber terminals, particularlysubscriber terminals that are outside the coverage area of the high-gainspot beams 210. Thus, by servicing areas of low demand density with thewider wide spot beams 205 and areas of higher demand density with thehigh-gain spot beams 210, a more efficient distribution of satelliteresources may be achieved.

It should be understood that while FIG. 3 illustrates a wide spot beam205-e with a coverage area of a region of the western contiguous UnitedStates and high-gain spot beams 210 having coverage areas with adiameter of approximately one hundred miles or less, other sizes ofbeams may be used. Thus, in certain examples, the aggregate coveragearea may correspond to the entire CONUS area and the high-gain spotbeams 210 may have coverage areas corresponding to one or more stateswithin the United States. In other examples, the wide spot beams 205 mayhave a coverage size of one or more states, and the high-gain spot beams210 within the wide spot beams 205 may have coverage areas correspondingto one or more metropolitan regions. In still other examples, a widespot beam 205 may have a coverage area of a metropolitan region, and ahigh-gain spot beam 210 within that wide spot beam 205 may have acoverage area of a region of high population density within themetropolitan region.

For the purposes of the present disclosure and appended claims, the term“wide spot beam” is to be broadly construed as referring to a spot beamhaving a coverage area within which one or more spot beams having asmaller angular beamwidth may be deployed. For the purposes of thepresent disclosure and the appended claims, the term “high-gain spotbeam” is to be broadly construed as referring to a beam having acoverage area smaller than wide spot beams served by a multi-satellitesystem (e.g., typically with a diameter between 0 and about 500 miles).

By deploying the high gain spot beams 210 within the coverage area ofthe wide spot beam 205-e, data throughput to certain regions within thecoverage area of the wide spot beam 205-e may increase. Additionally,the high-gain spot beams 210 may enable the second satellite 105-b tosimultaneously provide different data to different coverage areas overthe same frequencies. Regions outside of the coverage areas of thehigh-gain spot beams 210 may still receive data from the first satellite105-a over the wide spot beam 205-e.

According to one possible strategy for managing increased consumerdemand, when a high-gain spot beam 210 is deployed within the coveragearea of a wide spot beam 205, the high-gain spot beams 210 may createcapacity for high-demand regions to add new terminals. The new terminalsmay communicate with the newly deployed high-gain spot beams 210, andthe existing terminals may continue to communicate with the wide spotbeam. In this scenario, the wide spot beam 205 may remain congested withdata traffic because all of the existing terminals continue to remainassociated with the wide spot beam 205.

However, embodiments of the present disclosure resolve this issue byproviding systems and methods for reducing the congestion of the widespot beam 205. As alluded to above, when a high-gain spot beam 210 isdeployed to an area of high demand for satellite communications, theexisting terminals within the coverage area of the high-gain spot beam210 may be transitioned the high-gain spot beam 210 instead of the widespot beam 205. Existing terminals outside the coverage area of thehigh-gain spot beam 210 may remain in communication with the wide spotbeam 205. New terminals within the coverage area of the high-gain spotbeam 210 may be added to the high-gain spot beam 210. Additionally, thecapacity of the wide spot beam 205 freed up by terminals transitioned tothe high-gain spot beam 210 may be used to add new terminals outside thecoverage area of the high-gain spot beam 210 but still within thecoverage area of the wide spot beam 205. Thus, transitioning existingmembers within the coverage of the high-gain spot beam 210 from the widespot beam 205 to the high-gain spot beam 210 may result in not only anincreased total data throughput capacity, but a more efficientallocation of the resources provided by the first satellite and thesecond satellite among the different terminals. The terminals within thecoverage area of the high-gain spot beam 210 may be transitioned uponrequest for upgraded service by users associated with the terminals, orsome or all terminals within the coverage area of the high-gain spotbeam 210 may be transitioned to be provided service through thehigh-gain spot beam 210 without action on the part of the users (e.g.,at the direction of the satellite system operator).

In one embodiment, Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees for satellitecommunication services provided by each of the first satellite 105-a andthe second satellite 105-b are improved by transitioning terminalswithin the high-demand regions from service provided by the firstsatellite 105-a to service provided by the second satellite 105-b. Forexample, QoS for satellite communication services within a wide spotbeam 205 may be influenced by the overall beam capacity (e.g., in Gbps,etc.) divided by the number of terminals served by the spot beam and maybe based on statistical multiplexing of terminals.

FIG. 4A is a simplified diagram 400-a of provisioned satellitecommunication service from the first satellite 105-a for a number ofterminals. In this example, the first satellite beam bandwidth 420 maybe provisioned by statistical multiplexing of terminals whereprovisioned service (e.g., rate-based, volume-based, time-based, etc.)for individual terminals is illustrated by provisioned service levels425. Only a portion of the blocks of provisioned service levels 425 areshown in FIG. 4A for simplicity and, as described in more detail below,the instantaneous demand for all terminals serviced with the beam mayexceed the beam capacity 420 because of statistical multiplexing. Forsimplicity, FIG. 4A shows only terminals provisioned for one servicelevel for service provided by the wide spot beam 205. However, terminalsprovided communication service from wide spot beam 205 may beprovisioned with different service levels, in some embodiments.

When some or all terminals within high-demand regions of the wide spotbeam 205 are transitioned to a high-gain spot beam 210, service providedby wide spot beam 205 can be re-provisioned for a higher QoS. Thehigh-gain spot beam may, by virtue of the higher gain beam, providehigher capacity (e.g., higher MCS, etc.) than the wide spot beam 205over the same spectrum resources. Thus, the communication serviceprovided to terminals within the high-demand regions corresponding tothe high-gain spot beams 210 may be provisioned for higher QoS, and, atthe same time, the wide spot beam 205 now serves fewer terminals andeach terminal may be provided with a higher statistically multiplexedQoS guarantee.

FIG. 4B is a simplified diagram 400-b illustrating an example ofcommunication service re-provisioning with the addition of a high-gainspot beam 210 to service an elevated demand region within the wide spotbeam 205. As illustrated in diagram 400-b, high-gain spot beam capacity440 may be larger than wide spot beam capacity 420 (e.g., because ofhigher antenna gain, higher modulation order, use of more systembandwidth, etc.). However, FIG. 4B is not drawn to scale and differencesbetween usable capacity/bandwidth for the beams may vary depending onchannel conditions, system resources, and other reasons.

Some terminals that received communication service via the wide spotbeam 205 of the first satellite may be transitioned to be providedservice via the high-gain spot beam 210 of the second satellite. Forexample, high-gain spot beam capacity 440 may be provisioned intovarious service levels (e.g., provisioned service levels 450, 460, 470,etc.) and each terminal transitioned to the high-gain spot beam 210 maybe serviced by one of the provisioned service levels for high-gain spotbeam 210. In embodiments, each of the provisioned service levels 450,460, and/or 470 may have a higher QoS than the communication serviceformerly provided by the wide spot beam 205 of the first satellite. Newterminals within the coverage area of the high-gain spot beam 210 mayalso be provided service by the high-gain spot beam 210 according to oneof the provisioned service levels 450, 460, and/or 470.

Because some of the terminals that were serviced by the wide spot beam205 have transitioned to the second communication service provided bythe high-gain spot beam 210, the wide spot beam capacity 420 may not befully utilized by the terminals still serviced by the wide spot beam205. In embodiments, the communication service provided to terminalsthat remain serviced by the wide spot beam 205 may be re-provisioned toa higher QoS. For example, diagram 400-b illustrates that terminals thatremain serviced by the wide spot beam 205 may be re-provisioned forhigher service level as shown in larger provisioned service levels 430.Alternately (not shown), the communication service provided via the widespot beam 205 may keep the same QoS level or the QoS level may even belowered. Additionally or alternatively, provisioned service levels 430may illustrate a new communication service provided by the wide spotbeam 205. In this example, some terminals outside the coverage area forhigh-gain spot beam 210 may be transitioned to the new service withhigher QoS levels while some terminals may remain provisioned for theoriginal service levels (not shown).

FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate a system 500 for satellite communications atdifferent points in time. At the point in time shown in FIG. 5A, thesystem 500 includes a first satellite 105-a-1, a gateway system 115-a,and a number of subscriber terminals 130. The first satellite 105-a-1may be an example of the satellites 105 described above with referenceto FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and/or FIG. 3. The gateway system 115 may be anexample of the gateway system 115 described above with reference to FIG.1 and in some embodiments may be outside any user beam. The subscriberterminals 130 may be examples of the subscriber terminals describedabove with reference to FIG. 1. At the points in time shown in FIGS. 5Band 5C, the system 500 also includes a second satellite 105-b-1. Thesecond satellite 105-b-1 may also be an example of the satellites 105described above with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and/or FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIG. 5A, the system is shown at a first point in timeby diagram 500-a. The first satellite 105-a-1 transmits and receivesdata over a wide spot beam 205-f having a first coverage area. The firstcoverage area includes the gateway system 115-a and each of thesubscriber terminals 130. The gateway system 115-a may becommunicatively coupled with a network (not shown), and transmit andreceive data between the network and each of the subscriber terminals130 by way of a first communication service implemented using the widespot beam 205-f of the first satellite 105-a-1. Once a subscriberterminal 130 has subscribed to the first communication service, thesubscriber terminal 130 may communicate with the gateway system 115-aover the wide spot beam 205-f of the first satellite 105-a-1.

In certain examples, one or more multiplexing techniques may be employedto implement multiple channels over the wide spot beam 205-fAdditionally or alternatively, multiple carrier frequencies may betransmitted between the subscriber terminals 130 and the gateway system115-a in parallel using the wide spot beam 205-f to allow for multiplechannels of data in the communication service associated with the widespot beam 205-f.

In the example of FIG. 5A, the gateway system 115-a may be physicallylocated within the coverage area of the wide spot beam 205-f of thefirst satellite 105-a-1. In alternative examples, the gateway system115-a may be located outside of the coverage area of the wide spot beam205-f, such as within the coverage area of a different beam (not shown)provided by the first satellite 105-a-1. When in different beams, thegateway system 115-a may reuse the same system resources as thesubscriber terminals 130. When in the same beam, the gateway system115-a and subscriber terminals 130 may be assigned to different systemresources. In some embodiments, a substantial fraction of gateways maybe deployed away from all beams that service users to enable frequencyreuse between gateways and user terminals.

As further shown in FIG. 5A, the coverage area of the wide spot beam205-a of the first satellite 105-a-1 may include a region 505 having ahigher density of subscriber terminals 130 and/or a higher demand fordata throughput than other regions of the coverage area of the wide spotbeam 205-a. Note that while FIG. 5A shows a reduced number of subscriberterminals 130 for clarity in illustration, there may be thousands oreven millions of subscriber terminals 130 within the coverage area ofthe wide spot beam, and hundreds or thousands of subscriber terminals130 in the region 505 of high density or high demand. The subscriberterminals 130 in the region 505 of high density or high demand maytherefore disproportionately reduce the data throughput of the firstsatellite 105-a-1 available to other regions of the coverage area.

Referring now to FIG. 5B, the system is shown at a second point of timeby diagram 500-b, at which the second satellite 105-b-1 has beendeployed to increase the capacity available to the subscriber terminals130 in the coverage area of the wide spot beam 205-f. The secondsatellite 105-b-1 may be deployed by launching a new satellite ordeploying an existing satellite to the coverage area.

The second satellite 105-b-1 may be configured to provide a secondcommunication service to a subset of the subscriber terminals 130located within the coverage area of the wide spot beam 205-f of thefirst satellite 105-a-1. The second communication service provided bythe second satellite 105-b-1 may be implemented by a spot beam 210-cfrom the second satellite, the spot beam 210-c having a coverage areathat includes a portion of the coverage area of the wide spot beam 205-fof the first satellite 105-a-1. While only one spot beam 210-c from thesecond satellite 105-b-1 is shown in FIG. 5B for clarity inillustration, it should be understood that the second satellite 105-b-1may provide multiple spot beams to various different regions, bothinside and outside of the coverage area of the wide spot beam 205-f.

As shown in FIG. 5B, a second gateway system 115-b may be used toconnect the second satellite 105-b-1 to a network. The second satellite105-b-1 may be in communication with the same or a different gatewaysystem 115-a as the first satellite 105-a-1. In this way, the secondcommunication service provided through the spot beam 210-c of the secondsatellite 105-b-1 may include access to the same network(s) as the firstcommunication service provided through the wide spot beam 205-f of thefirst satellite 105-a-1. However, in certain examples, there may also bedifferences in the resources provided through the differentcommunication services. For instance, both the first communicationservice and the second communication service may provide access to theInternet and national television broadcasts, but only the secondcommunication service may provide access to a regional televisionbroadcast.

The coverage area of the spot beam 210-c shown in FIG. 5B includes theregion 505 of high density of subscriber terminals 130 or high demandfor data throughput. As shown in FIG. 5B, once the spot beam 210-c hasbeen deployed, the subset of subscriber terminals 130 located within thecoverage area of the spot beam 210-c may be transitioned from the firstcommunication service associated with the wide spot beam 205-f of thefirst satellite 105-a-1 to the second communication service associatedwith the spot beam 210-c of the second satellite 105-b-1. In this way,subscriber terminals 130 associated with the region 505 of high demandmay be transitioned to a spot beam 210-c with greater data throughputcapacity, thereby freeing up capacity on the wide spot beam 205-f forsubscriber terminals 130 outside of the coverage area of the spot beam210-c.

The transitioning of the identified subscriber terminals 130 located inthe coverage area of the spot beam 210-c from the first communicationservice to the second communication service may occur in a number ofways. In certain examples, the transition may include the deployment oftechnicians to the identified subscriber terminals 130 to manuallyreconfigure to reposition or replace antennas, reconfigure or replacemodems or other receiver equipment, and/or perform other stepsassociated with gaining access to the second communication serviceoffered through the spot beam 210-c of the second satellite 105-b-1.Alternately, the consumer may elect to reposition the antenna usingmechanical and/or electrical connections.

Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the terminals in theidentified subset may be transitioned to the second communicationservice by delivering hardware components, reconfiguration instructions,encryption keys, electronic credentials, and/or another type ofhardware, software, or file to the subscribers associated with thesubscriber terminals 130 such that the subscribers perform thereconfiguration themselves.

In additional or alternative examples, one or more of the identifiedsubscriber terminals 130 in the coverage area of the spot beam 210-c maybe transitioned to the second communication service by transmitting acontrol signal to the identified subscriber terminals 130. The controlsignal may cause the identified subscriber terminals 130 toelectronically repoint one or more antennas associated with theidentified subscriber terminals 130 to align the antennas with aposition of the second satellite 105-b-1. The control signal mayadditionally or alternatively reconfigure software, firmware, settings,and the like associated with equipment of the identified subscriberterminals 130 to enable the identified subscriber terminals 130 tocommunicate with the second satellite 105-b-1 and connect to the secondcommunication service. In certain examples, the control signal may besent to the identified subscriber terminals from the gateway system115-a over the wide spot beam 205-f of the first satellite 105-a-1 whilethe identified subscriber terminals 130 are still connected to the firstcommunication service. Example means for electronically repointing theantenna include mechanically moving an antenna reflector and/or antennafeed, updating the beam pattern of a phased array or partial phasedarray antenna, and mechanical or electrical selection of a differentfeed element.

At least a portion of the process of transitioning the identifiedsubscriber terminals 130 may include updating one or more gateways 115,system databases, and/or other system configurations to connect theidentified subscriber terminals 130 to the second communication service.For example, the process of transitioning the identified subscriberterminals 130 to the second communication service may include updating arouting table at one or more gateway systems 115.

In certain examples, the process of transitioning the identifiedsubscriber terminals 130 in the coverage area of the spot beam 210-cfrom the first communication service to the second communication servicemay include communicating with the satellites 105 or the gateway system115-a to perform a handoff or handover function in which communicationservices provided by the first communication service of the firstsatellite 105-a-1 to a subscriber terminal 130 are handed over in realtime to the second communication service of the second satellite105-b-1.

Because the pointing angle from the ground to the first satellite105-a-1 may be different from the pointing angle from the ground to thesecond satellite 105-b-1, the same frequency spectrum used forcommunications with the first satellite 105-a-1 may be reused for beamsto/from the second satellite 105-b-1. Thus, for example, the secondgateway system 115-b for the second satellite 105-b-1 may be anywhere inrelation to the gateway system 115-a and wide spot beams for the firstsatellite 105-a-1 and gateways 115-a and 115-b may still use the samegateway frequency spectrum without causing substantial interference.Moreover, the gateway frequency spectrum for the second satellite105-b-2 may be the same frequency spectrum as used for the first gatewaysystem 115-a and/or the subscriber terminals 130 communicating with thefirst satellite 105-a-1. Thus, frequency allocations for the twosatellite systems can be done somewhat independently. In certainexamples, the frequency spectrum or polarization used by both satellites105-a-1, 105-b-1 may be coordinated. For example, the frequency spectrumor polarization used by the subscriber terminals 130 may be coordinatedsuch that the same subscriber terminals 130 may be used to communicatewith either of the satellites 105-a-1, 105-b-1 by repointing theterminal antenna.

FIG. 5C illustrates the system at a third point in time in diagram500-c. As shown in FIG. 5C, new subscriber terminals 130-g and 130-hhave been added. New subscriber terminal 130-g is located within thecoverage area of the spot beam 210-c. Consequently, new subscriberterminal 130-g may be added to the second communication serviceimplemented over the spot beam 210-c of the second satellite 105-b-1 orto the first communication service implemented over the wide spot beam205-f of the first satellite 105-a-1. This service selection may be madebased on system loading, usage estimates, etc. By contrast, newsubscriber terminal 130-h is located outside of the coverage area of thehigh-gain spot beam 210-c, and may therefore be added to the firstcommunication service implemented over the wide spot beam 205-f of thefirst satellite 105-a-1, but not to the second communication serviceimplemented over the high-gain spot beam 210-c of the second satellite105-b-1.

In some examples, the satellite system may employ more than twosatellites and may employ high-gain spot beams of different sizes. Forexample, a third multi-beam satellite may be added to the systems ofFIG. 2, FIG. 3, and/or FIGS. 5A-5C and may service high-gain spot beamsthat overlap the wide spot beams of the first satellite 105-a and/or thehigh-gain spot beams of the second satellite 105-b. In embodiments, theorbital slot for the third multi-beam satellite may have sufficientangular separation from the first and second multi-beam satellites toemploy frequency re-use of the same system bandwidth as the first andsecond multi-beam satellites.

In embodiments, a later deployed multi-beam satellite (e.g., secondmulti-beam satellite and/or third multi-beam satellite above) may use atwo-color re-use scheme where each beam uses the entire system bandwidthand adjacent beams or partially overlapping beams use orthogonalpolarizations. In one embodiment, a first color uses the entire systembandwidth of a first polarization (e.g., RHCP, etc.) while the secondcolor uses the same system bandwidth of an orthogonal polarization(e.g., LHCP, etc.). The later deployed multi-beam satellite may employ anumber of high-gain spot beams using two-color frequency re-use, whereeach high-gain spot beam overlaps at most one other high-gain spot beam.The two-color frequency re-use may be performed using orthogonalpolarizations. One advantage of using the whole system bandwidth foreach high-gain spot beam is more flexible application of beam-hoppingtechniques as described in more detail below.

FIG. 6A is a simplified diagram 600-a showing a top view of coverageareas for example wide spot beams 205-g and 205-h from the firstsatellite 105-a, an example first high-gain spot beam 210-d, and anexample second high gain spot beam 210-e from a second satellite 105-b.FIG. 6A also illustrates the location of example subscriber terminals(illustrated as dots) with respect to the coverage areas of the beams.The wide spot beam 205-g may be an example of the wide spot beams 205described above with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and/or 5A-5C. Thehigh-gain spot beams 210 may be examples of the high-gain spot beamsdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 3 and/or 5A-5C. The subscriberterminals may be examples of the subscriber terminals described abovewith reference to FIGS. 1-5C. In this example, wide spot beams 205-g and205-h may or may not be tiled with other neighboring wide spot beams205.

The wide spot beams 205 may be used to provide a first communicationservice from a first satellite 105-a and the high-gain spot beams 210may provide a second communication service from a second satellite105-b. As shown in FIG. 6A, the high-gain spot beams 210 may be directedto regions of higher subscriber terminal density or elevated demandwithin the coverage area of the wide spot beams 205. Additionally oralternatively, the high-gain spot beams 210 may be directed to regionsof predicted higher subscriber terminal density within the coverage areaof wide spot beams 205. For example, high-gain spot beams 210 may bedirected to regions of higher population density instead of regions ofhigher existing demand for satellite communication services. In certainexamples, each of the subscriber terminals may at first subscribe to thefirst communication service from the wide spot beams 205 of the firstsatellite.

As the demand for communication data throughput within the coverageregion of wide spot beams 205 increases, the high-gain spot beams 210may be deployed to the regions of higher subscriber terminal density orpotential demand, and subscriber terminals may be transitioned to thesecond communication service as appropriate. Thus, a subset of thesubscriber terminals located within the coverage region for the firsthigh-gain spot beam 210-d may be transitioned to the secondcommunication service associated with the first high-gain spot beam210-d. Similarly, a subset of the subscriber terminals located withinthe second high-gain spot beam 210-e may be transitioned to the secondcommunication service associated with the second high-gain spot beam210-e. Subscriber terminals outside of the coverage area of eitherhigh-gain spot beam 210 may remain subscribed to the first communicationservice associated with the wide spot beams 205.

As described above, the high-gain spot beams 210 may reuse frequencyspectrum used by the wide spot beams 205-g and 205-h. FIG. 7Aillustrates a diagram 700-a of an example frequency re-use scheme forspot beams 205-g, 205-h, 210-d, and 210-e. For example, the systemresources may be divided into four colors, with each color assigned oneof frequency blocks FR1 750-a or FR2 750-b and one of two polarizationsPOL1 or POL2 (e.g., horizontal, vertical, LHCP, RHCP, etc.). Frequencyblocks FR1 750-a and FR2 750-b may be adjacent (e.g., with a contiguoussystem bandwidth 750), or, as illustrated in diagram 700-a, non-adjacentportions of the frequency spectrum. In diagram 700-a, wide spot beam205-g is assigned to a first color (FR1, POL1) and wide spot beam 205-his assigned to a second color (FR2, POL1). As illustrated in diagram700-a, high-gain spot beam 210-d may be allocated to use systemresources that overlap with wide spot beam 205-g and high-gain spot beam210-e may be allocated to use system resources that overlap with widespot beam 205-h because of the angular separation between the satellites105-a and 105-b. Further, high-gain spot beams 210-d and 210-3 mayre-use system resources because of the angular separation between thebeams. In one example, high-gain spot beams 210-c and 210-d use up tothe entire system bandwidth 750 and the same polarization as either ofhigh-gain spot beams 210-g or 210-h as illustrated in FIG. 7A.

In embodiments, each high-gain spot beam 210 may have a higher capacitythan each wide spot beam 205. For example, while wide spot beam 205-gmay use only a portion of the system bandwidth 750, each high-gain spotbeam 210 may use up to the entire system bandwidth. In addition,high-gain spot beams 210 have higher antenna gain than wide spot beams205. The higher antenna gain may allow the use of, for example, a higherorder modulation, thereby providing more data capacity in each channelof the system bandwidth.

In embodiments, the higher capacity of high-gain spot beams 210 may openup new markets for satellite service. For example, certain areas such ashigh population density urban areas may be well-served by wired Internetinfrastructure (e.g., cable, fiber optic, etc.) and traditionalsatellite Internet services may have difficulty competing with theexisting wired infrastructure in these areas. However, high-gain spotbeams 210 may provide superior data rates and/or capacities and may makesatellite Internet service within these regions competitive or more costeffective (e.g., per Mbps) than wired Internet services.

In certain examples, additional measures may be taken with respect toeach subscriber terminal located near a fringe area (i.e. outer edge or“low beam” area) of a high-gain spot beam 210 to determine whether totransition that subscriber terminal to the communication serviceassociated with the high-gain spot beam 210 or allow the subscriberterminal to remain a subscriber of the communication service associatedwith the wide spot beam 205.

In some examples, each subscriber terminal located within a thresholddistance of the outer edge of a high-gain spot beam 210 may betransitioned to the communication service of that high-gain spot beam210 only if the signal quality of the high-gain spot beam 210 at thelocation of the subscriber terminal is greater than the signal quality(e.g. the absolute signal level, relative signal level, signal to noiseratio, signal to interference ratio, or the like) of the wide spot beam205. Additionally or alternatively, each subscriber terminal locatedwithin a threshold distance of the outer edge of a high-gain spot beam210 may be transitioned to the communication service of that high-gainspot beam 210 based on a comparison of the available capacity of thesatellite providing the wide spot beam 205 to the available capacity ofthe satellite providing the high-gain spot beam 210. In additional oralternative examples, default rules may exist that dictate whether asubscriber terminal transitions to the communication service of ahigh-gain spot beam 210 based on a distance of the subscriber terminalfrom a center of the high-gain spot beam 210.

The determination of whether to transition a subscriber terminal locatednear a fringe area of a high-gain spot beam 210 to the communicationservice associated with that high-gain spot beam 210 may be made, incertain examples by a machine, such as a gateway device or othersatellite management device. In such examples, the management devicemaking the determination may receive a location of each subscriberterminal (e.g., in a communication from the subscriber terminal, from alookup table, or some other means) and determine the appropriatecommunication service for that subscriber terminal.

Once the determination of whether to transition a subscriber terminal toa high-gain spot beam 210 is made, transitioning the terminal mayinclude repointing an antenna of the terminal for service by thehigh-gain spot beam. Terminals may be repointed using an automatic orsemi-automatic process using some level of user involvement ortechnician support, as described in more detail below.

In some embodiments, multiple high-gain spot beams 210 may be deployedwithin or partially overlapping with the coverage region for a singlewide spot beam 205. FIG. 6B is a simplified diagram 600-b showing a topview of coverage areas for example wide spot beam 205-i from the firstsatellite 105-a, and example first and second high-gain spot beams 210-fand 210-g from a second satellite 105-b. FIG. 6B also illustrates thelocation of example subscriber terminals (illustrated as dots) withrespect to the coverage areas of the beams. The wide spot beam 205-i maybe an example of the wide spot beams 205 described above with referenceto FIGS. 2, 3, and/or 5A-5C. The high-gain spot beams 210 may beexamples of the high-gain spot beams described above with reference toFIGS. 3 and/or 5A-5C. The subscriber terminals may be examples of thesubscriber terminals described above with reference to FIGS. 1-5C. Inthis example, wide spot beam 205-i may or may not be tiled with otherneighboring wide spot beams 205.

In the example illustrated in diagram 600-b, high-gain spot beam 210-fmay be deployed to provide the second communication service to a firstelevated demand region and high-gain spot beam 210-g may be deployed toprovide the second communication service to a second elevated demandregion. The first and second elevated demand regions may partially orfully overlap with the coverage region for the wide spot beam 205-i. Inthis example, high-gain spot beams 210-f and 210-g may be spatiallyseparated by a distance δ 630, allowing high-gain spot beams 210-f and210-g to use the same system resources (e.g., the same frequency andpolarization). Distance δ 630 may be minimum distance for frequencyre-use and may be based on a minimum angular separation between beamsusing the same system resources.

FIG. 7B illustrates a diagram 700-b of an example frequency re-usescheme for spot beams 205-i, 210-f, and 210-g of FIG. 6B. As illustratedin diagram 700-b, system resources may be allocated to wide spot beam205-i based on a four-color frequency re-use scheme where wide spot beam205-i is allocated to use a portion of the system bandwidth and apolarization (e.g., FR1, POL1). High-gain spot beams 210-f and 210-g maybe allocated to use system resources that overlap with wide spot beam205-i because of the angular separation between the satellites 105-a and105-b. High-gain spot beams 210 of the second satellite 105-b may beallocated system resources based on a two-color frequency re-use schemewhere each beam is allocated up to the entire system bandwidth and oneof two orthogonal polarizations. In diagram 700-b, high-gain spot beam210-f is allocated to use the entire system bandwidth 750 and a firstpolarization and high-gain spot beam 210-g is allocated to use theentire system bandwidth 750 and also the first polarization.

In some examples, high-gain spot beams 210 may deployed to provideservice with overlapping coverage regions. FIG. 6C is a simplifieddiagram 600-c showing a top view of coverage areas for example wide spotbeam 205-j from the first satellite 105-a, and example coverage regionsfor first and second high-gain spot beams 210-h and 210-i from a secondsatellite 105-b that partially overlap. FIG. 6C also illustrates thelocation of example subscriber terminals (illustrated as dots) withrespect to the coverage areas of the beams. The wide spot beam 205-j maybe an example of the wide spot beams 205 described above with referenceto FIGS. 2, 3, and/or 5A-5C. The high-gain spot beams 210 may beexamples of the high-gain spot beams described above with reference toFIGS. 3 and/or 5A-5C. The subscriber terminals may be examples of thesubscriber terminals described above with reference to FIGS. 1-5C. Inthis example, wide spot beam 205-j may or may not be tiled with otherneighboring wide spot beams 205.

FIG. 7C illustrates a diagram 700-c of an example frequency re-usescheme for high-gain spot beams 205-j, 210-h, and 210-i of FIG. 6C.Similarly to diagram 700-b, high-gain spot beams 210-h and 210-i mayre-use system resources allocated to wide spot beam 205-j and may beallocated overlapping frequency ranges up to the entire system bandwidthof orthogonal polarizations.

In some embodiments, the coverage areas for high-gain spot beams 210-hand 210-i illustrated in FIG. 6C may be completely or almost completelyoverlapping. For example, high-gain spot beams 210-h and 210-i may bedirected to provide service to the same region. Terminals within theregion may be allocated to one or the other of the high-gain spot beams210-h or 210-i based on unused capacity of the beams or other factors.In some embodiments, terminals may be able to switch polarizationselectronically or mechanically and service for particular terminals maybe switched between the beams as demand fluctuates by switching theactive polarization of the terminals.

In embodiments, a later deployed multi-beam satellite may use a timesharing or switching scheme where one receive beam (e.g., service beam,feeder beam) at the satellite can be connected to one transmit beam(e.g., service beam, feeder beam). Switches on the satellite may connectthe beam signal pathways in a flexible allocation for each slot within aframe, providing flexible coverage area and flexible forward/return linkcapacity. For example, forward link capacity from a gateway may beflexibly allocated to spot beams by switching a full-spectrum feederbeam received at the satellite from the gateway to a service beam. Thefull-spectrum feeder beam may be switched between service beamsdynamically on a slot-by-slot basis. Thus, at any instant of time,interbeam interference may be managed by placing active beams as farapart as practical. The coverage areas for these transient beams maysafely overlap or abut each other in this example.

In some embodiments, time sharing may be used in combination withhigh-gain spot beam clustering to improve QoS of the communicationservice to high demand areas. FIG. 6D is a simplified diagram 600-dshowing a top view of coverage areas for example wide spot beam 205-kfrom the first satellite 105-a, and example first, second, and thirdhigh-gain spot beams 210-j, 210-k, 210-l, 210-m from a second satellite105-b that form a spot beam cluster. FIG. 6D also illustrates thelocation of example subscriber terminals (illustrated as dots) withrespect to the coverage areas of the beams. The wide spot beam 205-k maybe an example of the wide spot beams 205 described above with referenceto FIGS. 2, 3, and/or 5A-5C. The high-gain spot beams 210 may beexamples of the high-gain spot beams described above with reference toFIGS. 3 and/or 5A-5C. The subscriber terminals may be examples of thesubscriber terminals described above with reference to FIGS. 1-5C. Inthis example, wide spot beam 205-k may or may not be tiled with otherneighboring wide spot beams 205.

As illustrated in FIG. 6D, high-gain spot beams 210-j, 210-k, 210-l,210-m may each overlap with one or more other high-gain spot beams 210as part of a high-gain spot beam cluster to service regions of elevateddemand. The second satellite 105-b may use beam-hopping techniques tomanage interbeam interference between high-gain spot beams 210-j, 210-k,210-l, and 210-m. FIG. 7D illustrates an example timing diagram 700-d oftime sharing techniques for managing interbeam interference of high-gainspot beams 210-j, 210-k, 210-l, and 210-m of FIG. 6D. Timing diagram700-d may illustrate, for example, downlink communications for high-gainspot beams 210-j, 210-k, 210-l, and 210-m switched at satellite 105-busing time sharing.

On the downlink, a feeder beam that is a substantially full systembandwidth beam may be received at the satellite from a gateway and maybe switched to an active service beam on a slot-by-slot basis. Timingdiagram 700-d may illustrate switching for downlink feeder beams toprovide downlink communications for active high-gain spot beams 210during each slot 760. In timing diagram 700-d, a downlink feeder beamhaving a first polarization (POL1) may be switched such that high-gainspot beam 210-j is active during slot 760-0 and slot 760-2 and high-gainspot beam 210-j is active during slot 760-l and slot 760-3. Asubstantially full system bandwidth downlink feeder beam having a secondpolarization (POL2) may be switched to such that high-gain spot beam210-l is active during slot 760-0 and slot 760-3 and high gain spot beam210-m is active during slot 760-l. The downlink feeder beams may beswitched such that other high-gain spot beams are active during otherslots 760. As can be seen from timing diagram 700-d, the systemresources used by high-gain spot beams 210-j, 210-k, 210-l, and 210-mare orthogonal from each other either in time or polarization and systemresources may be flexibly allocated between high-gain spot beams 210.Uplink communications may be provided for terminals in the coverageareas of high-gain spot beams 210-j, 210-k, 210-l and/or 210-m in asimilar manner. While FIG. 7D illustrates a beam cluster of fourhigh-gain spot beams 210, time sharing of substantially full systembandwidth feeder beams to high-gain spot beams 210 may be used toprovide service using an arbitrary number of high-gain spot beams 210where time sharing maintains angular separation of concurrently activebeams with the same polarization.

As described above, a fleet of satellites may be deployed to providemulti-level spot-beam service to a service area. The multi-level spotbeam service may include wide spot beams and one or more levels ofhigh-gain spot beams. FIG. 6E is a simplified diagram 600-e showing atop view of coverage areas for example wide spot beams 205-l, 205-m,205-n, example first-level high-gain spot beams 210, and examplesecond-level high-gain spot beams 610. FIG. 6E also illustrates thelocation of example subscriber terminals (illustrated as dots) withrespect to the coverage areas of the beams. The wide spot beam 205-m maybe an example of the wide spot beams 205 described above with referenceto FIGS. 2, 3, and/or 5A-5C. The high-gain spot beams 210, 610 may beexamples of the spot beams described above with reference to FIGS. 3and/or 5A-5C. The subscriber terminals may be examples of the subscriberterminals described above with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and/or 5A-5C.

In the example of FIG. 6E, the first-level high-gain spot beams 210 aredeployed within the coverage area of the wide spot beam 205-m (e.g., viaa second multi-beam satellite) and may be directed to one or moreelevated demand regions (not pictured). After this deployment,communication services for subscriber terminals within a coverage areaof one of the first-level spot beams 210 may be transitioned from thewide spot beam 205-m to the respective first-level high-gain spot beams210. However, as the demand for satellite communication servicescontinues to grow, the second-level high-gain spot beams 610 may bedeployed (e.g., via a third multi-beam satellite) within the coveragearea of the wide spot beam 205-m. The second-level high-gain spot beams610 may be smaller than the first-level high-gain spot beams 210. Thus,one or more second-level high-gain spot beams 610 may be deployed withinor overlap the coverage area of a given first-level high-gain spot beam210.

In the present example, the principles described above may be extendedto the second-level high-gain spot beams 610 such that communicationservices for existing subscriber terminals located within the coveragearea of a newly deployed second-level high-gain spot beam 610 may betransitioned to that newly deployed second-level high-gain spot beam610. This transition may free up capacity and resources in thefirst-level high-gain spot beams 210 and/or the wide spot beam 205-m,thereby providing the first-level spot beams 210 and/or the wide spotbeam 205-m increased capacity to add new subscriber terminals.

Communication services for new subscriber terminals may be implementedusing the most localized beam available. Thus, communication servicesfor a newly added subscriber terminal outside of the coverage area of afirst- or second-level high-gain spot beam 210, 610 may be implementedusing the wide spot beam 205-m. Communication services for a newsubscriber terminal within the coverage area of a first-level high-gainspot beam 210 but outside the coverage area of a second-level high-gainspot beam 610 may be implemented at the first-level high-gain spot beam210. Additionally, communication services for a new subscriber terminalwithin the coverage area of a second-level high-gain spot beam 610 maybe implemented at the second-level high-gain spot beam 610.

FIG. 7E is a diagram 700-e illustrating example frequency re-use forwide spot beam 205-m and high-gain spot beams 210, 610 illustrated inFIG. 6E. For example, wide spot beam 205-m may be part of a four-color,tiled spot beam pattern similar to the pattern described with referenceto FIG. 7A. In diagram 700-e, wide spot beam 205-l is assigned to afirst color (FR1, POL1), wide spot beam 205-m is assigned to a secondcolor (FR2, POL1), and wide spot beam 205-n is assigned to a thirdfrequency (FR1, POL2). High-gain spot beam 210-n may be allocated to useall of the system bandwidth 750 using POL1 without interfering with widespot beam 205-m because of the angular separation between the first andsecond satellites. High-gain spot beam 210-o may partially overlaphigh-gain spot beam 210-m and may be allocated to use all of the systembandwidth using POL2.

As discussed above, second-level high-gain spot beams 610 may beprovided via a third satellite with sufficient angular separation fromthe first satellite serving wide spot beam 205-m and the secondsatellite serving high-gain spot beams 210. As illustrated in FIG. 7E,the second-level high-gain spot beams 610 may reuse the same systembandwidth as the first-level high-gain spot beams 210 and the wide spotbeam 205-m. In embodiments, second-level high-gain spot beams 610 mayuse a two-color re-use scheme where each beam uses the entire systembandwidth and partially overlapping beams use orthogonal polarizations.As illustrated in FIGS. 6E and 7E, each second-level high-gain spot beam610 may be deployed to partially overlap at most one other second-levelhigh-gain spot beam 610 and partially overlapping beams may be differentcolors. In one embodiment, the third satellite may use the two-colorfrequency re-use scheme illustrated in FIGS. 6E and 7E for substantiallyall beams of the satellite. Additionally or alternatively, thesecond-level high-gain spot beams 610 may use the time sharingtechniques described above with reference to FIGS. 6D and 7D to manageinterbeam interference where more than two second-level high-gain spotbeams 610 overlap with each other.

In some embodiments, the amount of overlap of high-gain spot beams 210,610 may be varied to improve system capacity within a given region evenmore. For example, high-gain spot beams 610-d and 610-e may overlappartially as illustrated in FIG. 6E, or, in embodiments, they may betotally or almost totally overlapping. Terminals within a coverageregion supported by two orthogonal polarization high-gain spot beams maybe serviced by either beam depending on the polarization of theterminal. In embodiments, terminals may be assigned to one or the otherof overlapping beams based on the available capacity of each beam. Inembodiments, assignment of terminals to beams may be changed dynamic orsemi-dynamically by terminals designed to switch polarization byelectronic or mechanical means (e.g., switchable polarization filter,dual antenna feed, etc.).

While the example of FIG. 6E illustrates deployment of first- andsecond-level high-gain spot beams 210, 610 within a wide spot beam205-m, it should be understood that the principles of the presentdisclosure may be extended to additional levels of nested spot beams asmay suit a particular embodiment.

As described above, transitioning subscriber terminals from serviceprovided by a wide spot beam 205 to service provided by a high-gain spotbeam 210, 610 may include repositioning or repointing the terminalantenna to receive signals from the new satellite. FIG. 8 illustrates amethod 800 for repointing a terminal antenna that may be used in servicetransitioning in accordance with various embodiments. The method 800 maybe used, for example, to transition terminals from a communicationservice provided via a wide spot beam 205 to a communication serviceprovided via a high-gain spot beam as shown in FIGS. 5A-5C, 6A-6E,and/or 7A-7E.

Method 800 begins at block 850 where the determination is made torepoint the terminal for communication service transitioning. At block855, a determination is made if the terminal is capable of automaticallyrepointing. For example, where a subscriber terminal is capable ofautomatically performing one or more steps associated with transitioningto a communication service offered by a high-gain spot beam, themanagement device may transmit a control signal to the subscriberterminal instructing the subscriber terminal to transition to thecommunication service of the high-gain spot beam. If the terminal iscapable of automatically repointing, a determination is made at block875 of whether mechanical repointing is needed. If mechanical repointingis not needed, the method may end at block 880 where the service for theterminal is switched electronically (e.g., by switching feed selection,beam weight adjustment, etc.). If mechanical repointing is needed, thecontrol signal may instruct the subscriber terminal to actuate anantenna associated with the subscriber terminal to align the antenna forservice via the high-gain spot beam at block 885.

Where the terminal is not capable of automatically performing steps forrepointing, the method may transition to block 860 where a determinationis made whether the terminal can be repointed by the user. For example,some terminals may have modes to assist users in repointing the terminalwithout technician support. Where the user can repoint the terminal, themethod may end at block 865 where the terminal is repointed by the userfor service by the second satellite. If the terminal is not adjustableby the user, a technician may be sent to the terminal location at block870.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram 900 of an example gateway system115-b for managing satellite communications according to the principlesof the present disclosure. The gateway system 115-b may be an example ofthe gateway system 115 described above with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 3,or FIGS. 5A-5C. The gateway system 115-b of the present example includesa data routing module 910, a wide spot beam service module 915, one ormore high-gain spot beam service module(s) 920, a service transitionmodule 925, and a service provisioning module 935. Each of thesecomponents may be in communication with each other, directly orindirectly. In certain examples, the gateway system 115-b may beimplemented by a single gateway device. Alternatively, the functionalityof the gateway system 115-b may be spread across multiple geographicallyseparate devices and systems. For example, the service transition module925 may be implemented at a central core node that coordinatescommunication between a number of gateways and user terminals.Individual gateways may also be specific to either the first or secondsatellite.

The gateway system 115-b may be configured to route data between one ormore core network(s) 930 and a number of terminals. The wide spot beamservice module 915 may be in communication with an initially deployedmulti-beam satellite, and the high-gain spot beam service module(s) 920may be in communication with one or more later-deployed multi-beamsatellites. The wide spot beam service module 915 may be configured toprovide a first communication service associated with a wide spot beamof the first satellite to a first coverage area having multipleterminals. The high-gain spot beam service module 920 may be configuredto provide a second communication service associated with a high-gainspot beam of the second satellite to a second coverage area, the secondcoverage area being located within the first coverage area. Thehigh-gain spot beam service module 920 may further be configured toprovide service using second-level high-gain spot beams (e.g., via thethird satellite) to additional coverage areas located within the firstcoverage area and/or other coverage areas of the first and/or secondsatellite.

The data routing module 910 may be configured to selectively route databetween the one or more core network(s) 930 and each of the terminals inthe first coverage area using either the wide spot beam service module915 or the high-gain spot beam service module(s) 920. The one or morecore network(s) 930 may include content delivery networks (CDNs), IPnetworks of the satellite operator, the Internet, etc. Initially, thedata routing module 910 may be configured to route all traffic betweenthe terminals in the first coverage area and the one or more corenetworks 930 using only the wide spot beam service module 915. When thehigh-gain spot beam of the second satellite is deployed to the secondcoverage area, the service transition module 925 may update the datarouting module to transition identified terminals that are locatedwithin the second coverage area from the first communication serviceimplemented by the wide spot beam service module 915 to the secondcommunication service implemented by the high-gain spot beam servicemodule(s) 920.

In certain examples, the data routing module 910 may be furtherconfigured to receive a request to initiate satellite communicationswith at least one new terminal and route data between the network(s) andthe at least one new terminal through the wide spot beam service module915 and the first satellite in response to a determination that the atleast one new terminal is located outside of the second coverage area.If the at least one new terminal is determined to be located within thesecond coverage area, the data routing module 910 may be configured toroute data between the core network(s) 930 and the at least one newterminal through the high-gain spot beam service module 920 and thesecond satellite.

In certain examples, the data routing module 910 may select the widespot beam service 915 or the high-gain spot beam service 920 for aterminal near a fringe area of the second coverage area based on signalstrength or available capacity. Additionally, in certain examples, theservice transition module 925 may transmit a control signal to one ofthe terminals located within the second coverage area to instruct theselected terminal to actuate an antenna to align the antenna with thespot beam of the second satellite.

The service provisioning module 935 may re-provision communicationservices or provision new communication services based on transition ofterminals from the first to the second communication service. Forexample, the service provisioning module 935 may re-provision the firstcommunication service for a higher service level (e.g., QoS guarantee,etc.) for all terminals that have not been transitioned to the secondcommunication service. For example, bandwidth of the first satellite maybe newly available because of transition of a number of terminals fromthe first communication service to the second communication service andthat bandwidth can be used to re-provision the first communicationservice. Additionally or alternatively, the service provisioning module935 may provision a new communication service provided via the firstsatellite. Terminals remaining with the first communication service maybe selectively transitioned (e.g., based on consumer demand or by thedirection of the system operator, etc.) to the new communicationservice. Provisioning or re-provisioning communication services mayinclude updating information at the terminals or gateway for serviceflow control (e.g., traffic shaping, etc.).

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an example satellite managementsystem 1000. The satellite communication management device 1005 may bean example of the gateway system 115 described above with respect toFIG. 1, FIG. 3, FIGS. 5A-5C, or FIG. 9. Alternatively, the satellitecommunication management device 1005 may be a device in communicationwith a gateway system over a network. The satellite communicationmanagement device 1005 of the present example includes a networkconfiguration module 1010, a routing configuration module 1015, and asubscriber data store 1020. Each of these components may be incommunication with each other, directly or indirectly.

The subscriber data store 1020 may be configured to store dataassociating each of a plurality of terminals with a first communicationservice. The terminals may be located within a coverage area of a widespot beam served by an initially deployed first multi-beam satellite.The network configuration module 1010 may be configured to identify asubset of the terminals made up of terminals located within a coveragearea of a high-gain spot beam of a later deployed second multi-beamsatellite associated with a second communication service. The networkconfiguration module 1010 may update the data of the subscriber datastore 1020 to associate the terminals of the identified subset with thesecond communication service. The routing configuration module 1015 maybe configured to cause network data to be routed between a network andeach terminal using either the first communication service or the secondcommunication service based on the data stored in the subscriber datastore 1020.

In certain examples, the network configuration module 1010 may alsoupdate the routing configuration module 1015 to associate a newsubscriber terminal with one of the communication services based on anumber of rules. For instance, the network configuration module 1010 mayidentify a new terminal and update the subscriber data store 1020 toassociate the new terminal with the first communication service inresponse to a determination that the new terminal is located outside thecoverage area of the high-gain spot beam. If the new terminal is locatedinside the coverage area of the high-gain spot beam, the networkconfiguration module 1010 may update the subscriber data store 1020 toassociate the new terminal with the second communication service.

In additional or alternative examples, the network configuration module1010 may determine whether one or more terminals located near fringeareas of the coverage area of the spot beam are to be associated withthe first communication service or the second communication service, andupdate the subscriber data store 1020 accordingly.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 1100 formanaging deployment of a fleet 1105 of satellites 105. The system 1100may include the fleet 1105 of satellites 105 and a fleet managementdevice 1110 communicatively coupled with the satellites 105. Thesatellites 105 may be examples of the satellites 105 of one or more ofthe previous Figures. In certain examples, the functionality of thefleet management device 1110 may be implemented by one or moreprocessor-based systems of one or more of the satellites 105, one ormore subscribing terminals (e.g., terminals 130), one or more gateways(e.g., gateway 115), and/or one or more satellite communicationmanagement systems (e.g., satellite communication management system1005).

The fleet management device 1110 may manage the deployment of thesatellites 105 and the allocation of subscriber terminals among thedifferent satellites 105 according to the principles described abovewith respect to the previous Figures. In the present example, the fleetmanagement device 1110 may include a demand monitoring module 1115, aservice transition module 1125, and a service provisioning module 1135.Each of these modules 1115, 1125, and 1135 may be in communication witheach other, directly or indirectly.

The fleet 1105 of satellites 105 may include a first multi-beamsatellite 105-a-2 and one or more second and/or third multi-beamsatellites (e.g., satellites 105-b-2, 105-n, etc.). The first multi-beamsatellite 105-a-2 may be an initially deployed satellite and may providesubstantially complete coverage for a service area using tiled wide spotbeams and frequency re-use (e.g., four color, etc.). The second and/orthird multi-beam satellites may be later deployed satellites and mayservice high-gain spot beams that overlap the wide spot beams of thefirst satellite 105-a-2. The second and/or third satellites may re-usesystem resources (e.g., frequency ranges, polarizations) of the firstsatellite. In embodiments, high-gain spot beams of the second and/orthird satellites may use a two-color frequency re-use scheme where beamsuse most or all of a system bandwidth and colors are separated byorthogonal polarization. Interbeam interference for high-gain spot beamsfrom the same satellite may be managed by physical constraints on beamcoverage areas (e.g., color separation for coverage regions) and/or timesharing where active beams are separated (e.g., by color and/orphysically).

The demand monitoring module 1115 of the fleet management device 1110may be configured to identify regions associated with elevated levels ofsatellite communication service demand. The demand monitoring module1115 may identify terminals within the elevated demand regions thatsubscribe to a first communication service associated with a first beamof a first satellite 105-a-2 of the fleet 1105. The demand monitoringmodule 1115 may be utilized in positioning high-gain spot beams of thelater deployed satellites such that coverage regions for the high-gainspot beams substantially correspond with elevated demand regions withincoverage regions of the wide spot beams of the first satellite.

The service transition module 1125 may be configured to transition theterminals within the coverage area of the high-gain spot beams from thefirst communication service associated with the wide spot beams of thefirst satellite 105-a-2 to a second and/or third communication serviceassociated with high gain spot beams of the second and/or thirdsatellites. The terminals within the coverage area of the second beammay be transitioned upon request for the second communication service byusers associated with the terminals, or the terminals of the identifiedsubset may be transitioned at the direction of the satellite systemoperator.

In certain examples, the service transition module 1125 may be furtherconfigured to identify at least one new terminal located within acoverage region of a beam of the first satellite and determine whetherthe new terminal is located within the coverage area of a high-gain spotbeam. If the new terminal is outside of the coverage area of thehigh-gain spot beam, the service transition module 1125 may cause thenew terminal(s) to subscribe to the first communication serviceassociated with the beam of the first satellite 105-a-2. If the newterminal is located within the coverage area of one or more high-gainbeams, the service transition module 1125 may cause the new terminal tosubscribe to the second communication service associated with thehigh-gain spot beams.

In certain examples, the service transition module 1125 may be furtherconfigured to identify one or more of the terminals that are locatednear a fringe area of a high-gain spot beam (e.g., of the second orthird satellite) and determine whether those terminals are to receiveservice from a wide spot beam of the first satellite 105-a-2 or thehigh-gain spot beam. This decision may be made based on a comparison ofthe available capacity of the first satellite 105-a-2 to the availablecapacity of the second and/or third satellites. Additionally oralternatively, the decision may be made based on a comparison of thesignal strength of each beam at the terminal device in question.

The service provisioning module 1135 may re-provision communicationservices or provision new communication services based on transition ofterminals from the first to the second communication service. Forexample, the service provisioning module 1135 may re-provision the firstcommunication service for a higher service level (e.g., QoS guarantee,etc.) for all terminals that have not been transitioned to the secondcommunication service. For example, bandwidth of the first satellite maybe newly available because of transition of a number of terminals fromthe first communication service to the second communication service andthat bandwidth can be used to re-provision the first communicationservice. Additionally or alternatively, the service provisioning module1135 may provision a new communication service provided via the firstsatellite. Terminals remaining with the first communication service maybe selectively transitioned (e.g., based on consumer demand or by thedirection of the system operator, etc.) to the new communicationservice. Provisioning or re-provisioning communication services mayinclude updating information at the terminals or gateway for serviceflow control (e.g., traffic shaping, etc.).

FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart diagram of an example method 1200 ofmanaging satellite communications. The method 1200 may be performed, forexample, by the gateway system 115 of FIG. 1, FIGS. 5A-5C, and/or FIG.9; the subscriber terminal 130 of FIG. 1 or FIGS. 5A-5C; the satellites105 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIGS. 5A-5C, and/or FIG. 11; thesatellite management system 1000 of FIG. 10; and/or the fleet managementdevice 1110 of FIG. 11.

At block 1205, a first communication service associated with aninitially deployed first multi-beam satellite is provided to a wide spotbeam coverage regions via a plurality of fixed location beams. Forexample, the first satellite may provide substantially complete coveragefor a service area using tiled wide spot beams and frequency re-use(e.g., four color, etc.). At block 1210, a second communication serviceassociated with a later deployed second multi-beam satellite is providedto a plurality of high-gain spot beam coverage regions via multiplefixed location beams of the second satellite. For example, the secondsatellite may be deployed after the first satellite and may provideservice to coverage regions within the service area of the firstsatellite using multiple high-gain spot beams. The plurality ofhigh-gain spot beam coverage regions may include a first elevated demandregion located at least partially within a first wide spot beam coverageregion, and a second elevated demand region located at least partiallywithin the first and/or a second wide spot beam coverage region.

At block 1215, a first set of terminals is transitioned from the firstcommunication service to the second communication service, the first setof terminals located in the first elevated demand region and initiallyassociated with a first fixed location beam of the first satellite, suchthat the first set of terminals are then associated with a first fixedlocation beam of the second satellite. At block 1220, a second set ofterminals is transitioned from the first communication service to thesecond communication service, the second set of terminals located in thesecond elevated demand region and initially associated with a secondfixed location beam of the first satellite, such that the secondplurality of terminals are then associated with a second fixed locationbeam of the second satellite. The first and second sets of terminals maybe transitioned upon request for the second communication service byusers associated with the terminals, or the terminals of the identifiedsubset may be transitioned at the direction of the satellite systemoperator.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart diagram of an example method 1300 ofmanaging satellite communications. The method 1300 may be performed, forexample, by the gateway system 115 of FIG. 1, FIGS. 5A-5C, and/or FIG.9; the subscriber terminal 130 of FIG. 1 and/or FIGS. 5A-5C; thesatellites 105 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIGS. 5A-5C, or FIG. 11; thesatellite management system 1000 of FIG. 10; and/or the fleet managementdevice 1110 of FIG. 11.

At block 1305, a first communication service associated with a wide spotbeam of a first satellite is provided to a first coverage area having aplurality of terminals. At block 1310, a second communication serviceassociated with a high-gain spot beam of a second satellite is providedto a second coverage area located within the first coverage area. Atblock 1315, a subset of the terminals in the first coverage area isidentified, each terminal in the subset being also located within thesecond coverage area. At block 1320, the terminals of the identifiedsubset are transitioned from the first communication service of the widespot beam of the first satellite to the second communication service ofthe high-gain spot beam of the second satellite.

At block 1325, a new terminal is identified. At block 1330, adetermination is made of whether the new terminal is located in thesecond coverage area (i.e. the coverage area of the high-gain spotbeam). The location of the new terminal may be determined in a number ofways. In certain examples, the terminal location may be determinedmanually by an installer. In additional or alternative examples, the newterminal may transmit its location to the first satellite, the secondsatellite, and/or a gateway or other management device associated withthe first and second satellite. Additionally or alternatively, thelocation of the new terminal may be determined from an IP or othernetwork address associated with the new terminal. In still otherexamples, the location of the new terminal may be ascertained using theGlobal Positioning System (GPS) or another form of triangulation.

If the new terminal is not located in the second coverage area,communication between the new terminal and the first communicationservice is initiated over the wide spot beam of the first satellite atblock 1335. If the new terminal is located within the second coveragearea, communication between the new terminal and the secondcommunication service is initiated over the high-gain spot beam of thesecond satellite at block 1340.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart diagram of an example method 1400 ofmanaging satellite communications. The method 1400 may be performed, forexample, by the gateway system 115 of FIG. 1, FIGS. 5A-5C, and/or FIG.9; the subscriber terminal 130 of FIG. 1 and/or FIGS. 5A-5C; thesatellites 105 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIGS. 5A-5C, and/or FIG. 11;the satellite management system 800 of FIG. 10; and/or the fleetmanagement device 710 of FIG. 11.

At block 1405, a first communication service associated with a wide spotbeam of a first satellite is provided to a first coverage area having aplurality of terminals. At block 1410, a second communication serviceassociated with a high-gain spot beam of a second satellite is providedto a second coverage area located within the first coverage area. Atblock 1415, communications for terminals located within the coverage areof the high-gain spot beam and at least a threshold distance away from afringe area of the high-gain spot beam are transitioned from the firstcommunication service to the second communication service. At block1420, at least one terminal near a fringe area of the high-gain spotbeam is identified. At block 1425, a measurement of a signal strength ofthe wide spot beam and a signal strength of the high-gain spot beam atthe location of the identified terminal are received. At block 1430, adetermination is made as to whether the signal strength of the high-gainspot beam is greater than the signal strength of the wide spot beam atthe location of the at least one terminal near the fringe area of thespot beam. If so (block 1430, Yes), the identified at least one terminalis transitioned from the first communication to the second communicationservice at block 1435. Otherwise (block 1430, No), communications forthe identified terminal are allowed to remain at the first communicationservice at block 1440.

In additional or alternative examples, the type and configuration ofhardware used by terminals at the fringes of the spot beam may influencewhether each fringe terminal connects to the first communication serviceor the second communication service. For example, if the ability of aterminal at the fringe of the spot beam to connect to the secondcommunication service is contingent on an upgrade or replacement ofequipment at the terminal, it may be more practical for the terminal tocontinue communicating with the first communication service rather thantransition to the second communication service.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart diagram of an example method 1500 ofmanaging satellite communications. The method 1500 may be performed, forexample, by the gateway system 115 of FIG. 1, FIGS. 5A-5C, and/or FIG.9; the subscriber terminal 130 of FIG. 1 and/or FIGS. 5A-5C; thesatellites 105 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIGS. 5A-5C, and/or FIG. 11;the satellite management system 1000 of FIG. 10; and/or the fleetmanagement device 1110 of FIG. 11.

At block 1505, a first communication service associated with a wide spotbeam of a first satellite is provided to a first coverage area having aplurality of terminals. At block 1510, data is routed between a networkand the terminals through the first communication service by a datarouting module of a gateway system. At block 1515, a secondcommunication service associated with a high-gain spot beam of a secondsatellite is initiated, the second communication service being directedto a second coverage area that is located within the first coveragearea. At block 1520, a subset of terminals is identified, each terminalin the subset being located within the second coverage area. At block1525, the data routing module of the gateway is updated to transitionthe identified subset of the terminals to the second communicationservice associated with the high-gain spot beam of the second satellite.Transitioning the identified subset of terminals to the secondcommunication service may include manually, automatically, orsemi-automatically repointing the identified subset of terminals (e.g.,according to the method 800 illustrated in FIG. 8, etc.). At block 830,data is selectively routed between the identified subset of theterminals and the network through the second communication service atthe data routing module of the gateway system.

FIG. 16 illustrates a flowchart diagram of an example method 1600 ofmanaging satellite communications. The method 1600 may be performed, forexample, by the gateway system 115 of FIG. 1, FIGS. 5A-5C, and/or FIG.9; the subscriber terminal 130 of FIG. 1 and/or FIGS. 5A-5C; thesatellites 105 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIGS. 5A-5C, and/or FIG. 11;the satellite management system 1000 of FIG. 10; and/or the fleetmanagement device 1110 of FIG. 11.

At block 1605, data associating each of a plurality of terminals with afirst communication service is stored at a data store. The terminals arelocated within a coverage area of the first communication serviceassociated with a wide spot beam of a first satellite. At block 1610, asubset of the terminals is identified. The terminals in the subset arelocated within a coverage area of a second communication serviceassociated with a spot beam of a second satellite. The coverage area ofthe second communication service may be within the coverage area of thefirst communication service. At block 1615, the data of the data storeis updated to associate the terminals of the identified subset with thesecond communication service. At block 1620, at least one handoff (e.g.,manual, automatic, or semiautomatic terminal repointing, beam weightadjustment, etc.) between the first satellite and the second satelliteis initiated to transition the terminals of the identified subset fromthe first communication service to the second communication service. Atblock 1625, network data is selectively routed between a network andeach terminal using one of the first communication service or the secondcommunication service. This routing is based on the data of the datastore.

FIG. 17 illustrates a flowchart diagram of an example method 1700 ofmanaging satellite communications. The method 1700 may be performed, forexample, by the gateway system 115 of FIG. 1, FIGS. 5A-5C, and/or FIG.9; the subscriber terminal 130 of FIG. 1 and/or FIGS. 5A-5C; thesatellites 105 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIGS. 5A-5C, and/or FIG. 11;the satellite management system 1000 of FIG. 10; and/or the fleetmanagement device 1110 of FIG. 11.

At block 1705 of method 1700, a first communication service associatedwith an initially deployed first multi-beam satellite is provided to awide spot beam coverage regions via a plurality of fixed location beams.For example, the first satellite may provide substantially completecoverage for a service area using tiled wide spot beams and frequencyre-use (e.g., four color, etc.). At block 1710, a second communicationservice associated with a later deployed second multi-beam satellite isprovided to a plurality of high-gain spot beam coverage regions viamultiple fixed location beams of the second satellite. For example, thesecond satellite may be deployed after the first satellite and mayprovide service to coverage regions within the service area of the firstsatellite using multiple high-gain spot beams. The plurality ofhigh-gain spot beam coverage regions may include a first elevated demandregion located at least partially within a first wide spot beam coverageregion.

At block 1715, a first set of terminals is transitioned from the firstcommunication service to the second communication service, the first setof terminals located in the first elevated demand region and initiallyassociated with a first fixed location beam of the first satellite, suchthat the first set of terminals are then associated with a first fixedlocation beam of the second satellite. The first set of terminals may betransitioned upon request for the second communication service by usersassociated with the terminals, or the terminals of the identified subsetmay be transitioned at the direction of the satellite system operator.

Transitioning the first set of terminals from the first communicationservice to the second communication service may free up substantialbandwidth resources of the first multi-beam satellite. At block 1720,the first communication service may be re-provisioned to provide ahigher service level to terminals located outside the first elevateddemand region and associated with the first fixed location beam of thefirst satellite. For example, the total bandwidth of the first fixedlocation beam may be divided up (using statistical multiplexing, etc.)among a lower number of current and/or expected subscribers, resultingin a higher QoS level for all terminals subscribed to the firstcommunication service. Re-provisioning may include modifying parametersat the terminals and/or gateway to change traffic flow behavior (e.g.,traffic shaping, etc.) based on the higher QoS level.

As will be readily understood, the components and modules described withreference to various embodiments above may, individually orcollectively, be implemented with one or more Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs) adapted to perform some or all of theapplicable functions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions may beperformed by one or more other processing units (or cores), on one ormore integrated circuits. In other embodiments, other types ofintegrated circuits may be used (e.g., Structured/Platform ASICs, FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and other Semi-Custom ICs), which maybe programmed in any manner known in the art. The functions of each unitmay also be implemented, in whole or in part, with instructions embodiedin a memory, formatted to be executed by one or more general orapplication-specific processors.

It should be noted that the methods, systems and devices discussed aboveare intended merely to be examples. It must be stressed that variousembodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures orcomponents as appropriate. For instance, it should be appreciated that,in alternative embodiments, the methods may be performed in an orderdifferent from that described, and that various steps may be added,omitted or combined. Also, features described with respect to certainembodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Differentaspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similarmanner. Also, it should be emphasized that technology evolves and, thus,many of the elements are exemplary in nature and should not beinterpreted to limit the scope of embodiments of the principlesdescribed herein.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practicedwithout these specific details. For example, well-known circuits,processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shownwithout unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

Also, it is noted that the embodiments may be described as a processwhich is depicted as a flow diagram or block diagram. Although each maydescribe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operationscan be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order ofthe operations may be rearranged. A process may have additional stepsnot included in the figure.

Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, orcombinations thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middlewareor microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessarytasks may be stored in a computer-readable medium such as a storagemedium. Processors may perform the necessary tasks.

Having described several embodiments, it will be recognized by those ofskill in the art that various modifications, alternative constructions,and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of theprinciples described herein. For example, the above elements may merelybe a component of a larger system, wherein other rules may takeprecedence over or otherwise modify the application of the principlesdescribed herein. Also, a number of steps may be undertaken before,during, or after the above elements are considered. Accordingly, theabove description should not be taken as limiting the scope of theinvention.

1-30. (canceled)
 31. A method for capacity enhancement of acommunication service provided by a satellite communication systemcomprising at least one spot-beam satellite and employing a plurality ofspot beams having at least two different beam characteristics, themethod comprising: determining a demand profile for the communicationservice for a coverage region, the coverage region including one or moreelevated demand regions; and determining a system characteristic of amulti-level spot beam service configuration for the coverage regionbased on the demand profile, the multi-level spot beam serviceconfiguration comprising a first spot beam having a first spot beamcharacteristic and a second spot beam having a second spot beamcharacteristic that is different from the first spot beamcharacteristic, the second spot beam at least partially overlapping withthe first spot beam.
 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the first spotbeam characteristic comprises a first beam gain and the second spot beamcharacteristic comprises a second, different beam gain.
 33. The methodof claim 32, where the system characteristic comprises one or more ofpositioning for the second spot beam in relation to the one or moreelevated demand regions, an amount of overlap between the second spotbeam and the first spot beam, a gain ratio of the second beam gainrelative to the first beam gain, an allocation of resources to the firstspot beam, or an allocation of resources to the second spot beam. 34.The method of claim 32, wherein the satellite communication systemcomprises a first satellite and a second satellite, and wherein thefirst satellite provides the communication service via a first set ofspot beams comprising the first spot beam and the second satelliteprovides the communication service via a second set of spot beamscomprising the second spot beam.
 35. The method of claim 34, wherein thefirst set of spot beams uses a system bandwidth, and wherein the secondset of spot beams also uses the system bandwidth.
 36. The method ofclaim 35, wherein the first set of spot beams are configured accordingto a tiled re-use pattern such that respective beams of the first set ofspot beams that are proximate with respect to each other are assigned todifferent beam colors of a first set of beam colors.
 37. The method ofclaim 36, wherein the first set of beam colors comprises more than twoorthogonal colors.
 38. The method of claim 36, wherein the second set ofspot beams are configured according to a second set of beam colors. 39.The method of claim 38, wherein the second set of beam colors comprisestwo or fewer orthogonal colors.
 40. The method of claim 38, wherein eachcolor of the first set of beam colors and the second set of beam colorscomprises a subset of the system bandwidth or a polarization, or acombination thereof.
 41. The method of claim 35, wherein a first beambandwidth allocated to the first spot beam comprises a first portion ofthe system bandwidth and a second beam bandwidth allocated to the secondspot beam comprises at least the first portion of the system bandwidth.42. The method of claim 34, further comprising: identifying a change indemand for at least a portion of the coverage region.
 43. The method ofclaim 42, further comprising: adjusting the system characteristic of themulti-level spot beam service configuration based at least in part onthe identified change in demand.
 44. The method of claim 42, furthercomprising: deploying a third spot beam in the multi-level spot beamservice configuration based at least in part on the identified change indemand, wherein the third spot beam at least partially overlaps with atleast one of the first spot beam or the second spot beam.
 45. The methodof claim 44, wherein the third spot beam is deployed via a thirdsatellite providing the communication service via a third set of spotbeams comprising the third spot beam.
 46. The method of claim 44,wherein the third spot beam has a third beam gain that is different fromthe first and second beam gains.
 47. The method of claim 44, wherein thesecond spot beam and the third spot beam are directed to provide serviceto a same elevated demand region of the one or more elevated demandregions.
 48. The method of claim 42, further comprising: adjustingassignments of subscriber terminals within the coverage region to spotbeams of the multi-level spot beam service configuration based at leastin part on the identified change in demand.
 49. The method of claim 31,further comprising: assigning subscriber terminals within the coverageregion to one of the first spot beam or the second spot beam based onthe demand profile and capacities of the first spot beam and the secondspot beam.
 50. The method of claim 31, further comprising: provisioningthe communication service according to a determined capacity of themulti-level spot beam service configuration and the demand profile. 51.The method of claim 31, wherein the demand profile is determined basedon one or more of density of subscriber terminals in the coverageregion, population density in the coverage region, or demand for datathroughput in the coverage region.